Plastic buckets, and in particular the slightly tapered five gallon buckets sold at home improvement and construction supply stores, are commonly used for tipping and pouring a wide range of substances. In landscaping, for example, such buckets may be used for pouring out materials such as gravel, drain rock, mulch, and dirt. In the building trades buckets are often used to dispense construction materials. Buckets are frequently used for cleaning purposes, and excess cleaning fluids that remain in a bucket may require pouring off.
A bucket generally has a single handle located on a wire bail that swings from side to side on the bucket. When a bucket is filled or partially filled with materials, however, it can become heavy and difficult to control while tipping and pouring. Too much or too little material may be dispensed from the bucket, or the bucket may slip from the hand or hands of the user, potentially causing injury.
Many construction materials require mixing prior to use. These include mortar, grout, drywall joint compound, self-leveling compounds, and many other materials. The example bucket above is commonly used by tradespeople (sometimes also in the three gallon size) as a mixing vessel. Materials are typically mixed with a paddle bit attached to an electric drill.
However, mixing viscous substances in a bucket can be hazardous as the bucket tends to want to spin in the direction the mixing bit is turning A person may try to hold the bucket in place between his or her legs while mixing, or alternatively, set a foot on the rim of the bucket to stabilize it. Neither method provides a secure grip on the bucket and can permit the bucket to spin, and even to tip over, during mixing. This can lead to a waste of material and can potentially cause injury to the person.
There are a number of foot plate or foot pedal devices and foot stand devices known for use in holding cylindrical containers such as buckets and for securing a bucket in place during mixing. Nearly all of these devices are intended to secure a bucket during the mixing process only. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,651,060 to Roth. A bucket may be placed on, or in, the device, the device is engaged to secure the bucket, a substance is mixed in the bucket, and the bucket is removed from the device for use in the work area. Other such devices are typically bulky and must be carried to the work area separately from the mixing bucket.
There is one known device that provides an additional handle for buckets, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,017 to Lasseigne. It appears to be unnecessarily bulky and heavy, overly complex and expensive to manufacture. It also appears to be designed solely as a handle for the bottom of a bucket, and suggests no other locational or positional alternatives.
No known auxiliary handhold devices for cylindrical containers are also constructed for accepting a person's foot or feet to secure the bucket in place for mixing viscous materials, and none of the bucket hold-down devices provide handle functions for tipping, pouring, or carrying a bucket. There are no known handles that can be positioned wherever a users wants—at the bottom, top, or middle of a bucket.